The Tigers' Tale

SUNDAY SHOWCASE

During '40s, all-black football team was unrivaled

October 1, 2006|By Josh Robbins, Sentinel Staff Writer

DELAND -- Bill Churms doesn't remember many details from that night more than 60 years ago, but he knows one thing for sure: He saw one of the greatest high-school football teams in Central Florida history.

No one beat all-black Euclid Avenue High.

From 1940 to 1945, the Purple Tigers won 40 consecutive games, a winning streak that no Central Florida team -- segregated or integrated -- has equaled.

In those days, blacks in this town had to enter the local courthouse through a special door, drink from different water fountains and attend a separate school. But whites, Churms included, would fill one side of Municipal Stadium just to watch Euclid and its band play.

"A lot of Caucasians went to the ballgames back in those days, mainly because they had such a good team," said Churms, now 76 years old. "They beat the heck out of everybody. They were fun to watch."

They were so good that Churms and his white buddies had to see the Purple Tigers up close. They left their seats, walked down the steps and stood behind the Euclid bench, so close to the players in purple-and-gold uniforms that they could see steam rise from the players' heads that unseasonably cold night.

The Purple Tigers didn't talk with the children, because they were so busy playing.

"I guess they were trying to learn something from us," said Benjamin Howell Sr., who played fullback and defensive back at Euclid in 1943 and 1944. "We were the best around. At that time, we were the best football team in the state of Florida."

Awestruck, the children glanced at No. 48, a 201-pound tailback named Lester Witherspoon. Clearly, he was the best player on the field -- a guy who could plow through would-be tacklers or just as easily run around them.

The kids looked onto the field at Euclid's opponent, Richardson Academy of Lake City. That team barely had enough equipment to go around. Players leaving the field swapped helmets with the players coming onto the field. Others didn't even have cleats; instead, they wore dress shoes.

The Euclid Purple Tigers won that night. Just like they always did.

Players used secondhand equipment

The Purple Tigers might have seemed like a ragtag group.

They had no bus to take them to away games; the school system wouldn't give them one. Euclid players piled into the back of an orange truck and got to places that way.

They wore shoulder pads, cleats and helmets that had already been used and discarded by all-white DeLand High. On the field, though, the kids who attended DeLand High knew how good Euclid was in football.

"Hands-down, yessiree, they would've beaten us," said 80-year-old Bill Dreggors, who attended Euclid games and played football at DeLand High before graduating in 1944. "In fact, I don't think we played a football team in our conference that could've beaten Euclid High School.

"They wanted to be a good representative of the high school and they didn't have much to play with. A sandlot team has about as good equipment as that team did."

The old equipment didn't stop Euclid from outscoring its first seven opponents of the 1943 season 163-25.

Samuel Bevel is one of the few players from those Euclid teams still alive. Now 79, it's been 17 years since he retired from his job delivering supplies to Volusia County schools.

A stroke has forced him to use a walker or wheelchair to get around, but he once was a high-stepping halfback and defensive back for the Purple Tigers.

"They knew that they couldn't beat us, so they tried to score," Bevel said. "When they did score, they said, `Oh, Lord, we done scored on the mighty Euclid Purple Tigers.' "

Names have changed at school, stadium

The school building at West Euclid Avenue still stands about a half-mile from downtown DeLand, but it hasn't been a high school since the 1960s. Now called Euclid Avenue Learning Center, it's geared to helping students in danger of dropping out.

Municipal Stadium has also changed.

It's now called Spec Martin Memorial Stadium, in honor of DeLand High's former coach and athletic director.

Walk around the 65-year-old facility, and you won't find a single plaque, picture or anything else that commemorates the Purple Tigers teams.

Recently, Howell and former teammate David James Livingston Sr., 77, visited the old ballpark to have their picture taken.

"We used to romp out here many years ago, but we can't romp no more," Howell said.

Howell left Euclid Avenue High in 1944 to join the Army Medical Corps. He served stateside and then married former Euclid majorette Albertha McArthur in 1947. He retired in 1989 after 30 years working for the Volusia County school system, delivering supplies and serving as foreman of the warehouse where the supplies were kept.

Livingston played quarterback and defensive back for Euclid from 1944 to 1947.

He served in the Army from 1948 to 1954 as a military policeman. Stationed for four years in Germany, he helped guard Nazi prisoners on trial for war crimes.